Author: Ani Kharatian

US Congressman highlights need to stop providing military aid to Azerbaijan

Ani Kharatian

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 12:35, 6 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6, ARMENPRESS. US Congressman Chris Smith says Turkey is providing military support to Azerbaijan in the latter’s military operations against Artsakh.

In an interview to the Russian service of the Voice of America, the Congressman said there is a lot of evidence on this, but a deeper investigation is needed, especially over fighter jets which are being used, and there are opinions that these jets are provided by Turkey. “When we have a presence of several thousands of jihadists, it’s not a coincidence, it has been pre-planned. We believe that Turkey again played a role in this. People are being killed. Although the activity of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs has not given the desirable outcome, it has made great efforts. I think when Aliyev was refusing to negotiate, he was relying on the priority military force. We need to strongly react to this”, he said.

The Congressman stated that the use of force should be stopped. He highlighted the need to suspend also the military funding and support to Azerbaijan. “We need to revise our relations also with Turkey. Let’s remember Turkey’s actions in Cyprus. They continue acting in the same way after the illegal occupation of Cyprus. The fact that it had happened years ago doesn’t mitigate that terrible act. Turkey is moving on a wrong direction. I have organized two Congressional hearings on the Armenian Genocide. The one related to the 100th anniversary of the Genocide committed against Armenians, and the other one was back during the Clinton presidency”, he said, adding that he always remembers the attendance of a Turkish diplomat to the hearings. Both sides were represented. The Turkish side threatened with the Incirlik airbase if the US adopts resolution on the recognition of the Genocide.

Coming to the ongoing military aggression of Azerbaijan against Artsakh, the US Congressman said the situation is that Turkey is providing military support to Azerbaijan. “Our message is to stop. The bloodshed should stop immediately. A NATO member should not act in this way. This may turn into a broader confrontation. It is necessary to return to the 1994 ceasefire, and then to find a formula for the settlement. This is no longer a frozen conflict like many try to present very often”, he said.

On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale attack against the Republic of Artsakh, targeting also the civilian settlements, including the capital Stepanakert and the city of Shushi. In addition, the Azerbaijani armed forces have also targeted Armenia’s military and civilian infrastructures.

21 civilians in Artsakh and Armenia were killed, 80 were wounded as a result of the Azerbaijani aggression.

219 servicemen and volunteers have been killed in Artsakh from the Azerbaijani attacks.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

On the occasion of a misreading

Ani Kharatian

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 23:14, 3 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan gave an interview to Al-Jazeera today. A number of news outlets published an out-of-context formulation attributed to the PM, causing various comments in the media.

For avoiding any future speculations over the issue, ARMENPRESS state news agency is authorized to present to all its media partners the transcript of that part of the Prime Minister’s interview.

Bernard Smith – Would you want to see Russian peacekeepers for example in Nagorno-Karabakh?

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan – You see those issues could be discussed in the context of the wider resolution, within the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairmanship

ARMENPRESS news agency calls on the specialists to deal with such important issues with great sense of responsibility and caution.

Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan

Syria urges Azerbaijan, Armenia to end conflict peacefully

Ani Kharatian
China.org
Oct 3 2020
Xinhua | October 3, 2020

DAMASCUS, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) — The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Saturday urged Azerbaijan and Armenia to end the conflict by peaceful means, according to the state news agency SANA.

In a statement, the ministry lamented the confrontation between the two countries, extending condolences to the families of the victims from both sides.

The ministry urged the two sides to put an end to the current escalation and find a settlement to the conflict by peaceful means.

It called on the Azerbaijani government to heed to the Armenian initiatives for pacification and dialogue to end the conflict. Enditem

http://t.m.china.org.cn/convert/c_xqF8VOII.html?fbclid=IwAR1IvGVrzZCMN_mTGChqqdRTW1p6J8iuQd8wNawyNZ2BGdyuCgg2N6QcNVE

CivilNet: CIVILNET Reporter Recounts Azerbaijani Shelling in Martuni, Karabakh Amid Coverage

Ani Kharatian
CIVILNET.AM

1 October, 2020 22:15

CivilNet’s team was in the border town of Martuni in Nagorno-Karabakh to report on the impact of the Azerbaijani shelling on the town’s residents. CivilNet’s Ani Paitjan recounts the team’s experience when the town came under Azerbaijani shelling in the middle of their coverage. Moreover, she explained what information she has on the injured French journalists who were also in Martuni when the attack happened. 

Minister Tonoyan expresses concern to ICRC over videos spread by Azerbaijani media on Armenian POW

Ani Kharatian
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 21:34,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Davit Tonoyan received today Head of the Delegation of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) to Armenia Claire Meytraud, the ministry told Armenpress.

At the meeting minister Tonoyan touched upon the videos spread in the Azerbaijani media outlets relating to Armenian captive officer Gurgen Alaverdyan and expressed the concern of the Armenian defense ministry to the ICRC Yerevan Office head over the content of that videos. The minister said the Azerbaijani authorities’ obstruction to the permission of the visit of ICRC Baku Office representatives to the Armenian captive is a gross violation of international rights, in particular the commitments assumed by Azerbaijan on the sidelines of the international humanitarian law.

At the same time, the Armenian defense minister thanked the ICRC Yerevan Office head for the delegation’s efforts aimed at protecting the rights of POWs and civilians who appeared in the Azerbaijani captivity.

In turn the ICRC Yerevan Office head assured that the delegation is taking all necessary steps to ensure all the procedures deriving from the status of Gurgen Alaverdyan and other Armenians who are in the Azerbaijani captivity.

The sides also discussed the activity aimed at assessing the integration level of international humanitarian law in the Armenian Armed Forces.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Those exempted from military service can serve in Armenia Investigative Committee

Ani Kharatian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 17 2020

19:15, 17.09.2020
                  

Turkish press: President Erdoğan congratulates Azerbaijani leader, people on anniversary of Baku’s liberation

Ani Kharatian
 ANKARA DIPLOMACY 
SEP 15, 2020 3:22 PM GMT+3
On the occasion of the 102nd anniversary of Baku's liberation, a ceremony was organized at the Turkish martyr's cemetery in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.15, 2020 (AA Photo)

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday congratulated the people of Azerbaijan and their leader on the 102nd anniversary of the liberation of the capital Baku from Armenian and Bolshevik occupation.

The president remembered the Caucasian Islamic Army, under the leadership of Nuri Pasha, and the Azerbaijani national army that won a historic victory, as well as all the fallen soldiers and heroes during this battle.

Erdoğan underlined that the unity, solidarity and cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan put forth against threats toward their existence and vital interests are an example and a message to the world.

Reiterating that both countries are determined to deepen and enhance relations in all aspects under the notion "One nation, two states," Erdoğan said Turkey will always be on Azerbaijan's side with great support.

The friendly political, legal, commercial and military relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey were documented shortly after the foundation of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic on May 28, 1918, with the Treaty of Batumi, signed between the newly established country and then-Ottoman Empire on June 4, 1918.

With the treaty, the empire recognized the independence of Azerbaijan, which could in turn request the empire's military help in case of any threat.

After the republic proclaimed independence in Georgia, Fatali Khan Khoyski, Azerbaijan's first prime minister, formed the government in Ganja, now northwestern Azerbaijan, in June as he was not able to travel directly to Azerbaijan's current capital Baku as the city was then controlled by Armenian militants and Bolsheviks.

On Sept. 15, 1918, an elite Ottoman force called the Caucasian Islamic Army under the leadership of the 29-year-old Nuri Pasha (Killigil) was sent by then-Minister of War Enver Pasha to what is today Azerbaijan in the closing months of the World War I in response to a plea from the region's people.

The Caucasian Islamic Army, made up of Azerbaijani and Turkish soldiers, completed its mission in September, liberating Baku and thus laying the groundwork for the country's independence decades later in 1991.

Over 1,100 Caucasian Islamic Army martyrs sacrificed their lives together with the Azerbaijani people for this cause.

The liberation of Baku at the time paved the way for the transfer of the capital from Ganja and ensured the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, providing the basis for its modern-day boundaries.

Armenia and Egypt attach importance to neutralizing foreign interventions in the region

Ani Kharatian

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 10:43,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt received on September 14 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan in the presence of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt Mr. Sameh Shoukry and the Armenian ambassador to Cairo.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency stated that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi welcomed the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia to Cairo, asking him to convey his regards and greetings to the Armenian President, the Egyptian Presidency said. 

President El-Sisi stressed the special historical relationship between Egypt and Armenia and reaffirmed Egypt's keenness to strengthen joint cooperation between the two countries at various levels to achieve the common interests of the two friendly peoples.

For his part, Mr. Mnatsakanyan conveyed the greetings of the Armenian President to President El-Sisi, stressing his country's pride in the close and constructive cooperation between the two countries, particularly as the large Armenian community in Egypt are held in high regard. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia further commended Egypt’s distinguished position, regional and international leverage and pivotal role in the region. He further stressed Armenia's mutual interest in strengthening joint cooperation between the two countries, especially in the tourism, cultural, trade and economic fields. The Spokesman added that, during the meeting, they exchanged views on some regional files, including developments in Libya, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian cause.

They agreed on the importance of undermining foreign interventions in the region that seek to achieve direct gains for their own interests at the expense of security, stability and peoples' capabilities. They also discussed some areas of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, including increasing mutual investment opportunities and improving and enhancing trade exchange, especially in the sectors of pharmaceutical industries, technical education and tourism. They also stressed the importance of coordinating and exchanging information between the concerned agencies.

Captivity continues for Armenian soldier in Azerbaijan. What do experts on both sides have to say?

Ani Kharatian
JAM News
Sept 12 2020

    JAMnews, Baku-Yerevan
 

Baku has requested that two Armenian soldiers be placed on the Interpol wanted list. Their names, says the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan, were said by the Armenian officer now in captivity. The Azerbaijani servicemen who took the video of his capture have been discharged.

Azerbaijan contacted Interpol with the request to consider the soldiers, who are charged with attempted sabotage in the country, as wanted. Interpol’s response is as yet unknown.

This information was given by the Armenian officer who was captured on the Azerbaijani side of the line of contact on 23 August, 2020, says the ministry of defence.

At the same time, the Azerbaijani servicemen who captured him have been discharged from duty. They have also been charged with illegally recording the capture on their mobile phones and distributing the footage on social media.

 Yerevan refutes the accusation the officer was sent to stage a diversion, and claims that the Armenian prisoner of war is being coerced.

Lieutenant Gurgen Alaverdyan of the Armenian armed forces was captured on 23 August in the Qoranboy district of Azerbaijan. According to a statement from the prosecutor general, he admitted that he had been ordered to organise provocations and diversions including explosions, on Azerbaijani territory.

The prosecutor general also states that Alaverdyan was following the order of his commanding officer Vazgen Vartanyan and that Armenian serviceman Armen Jamalyan was to assist him. 

The court charged them, in absentia, with five counts of breaking the law of the civil codex. Then a request for an international search was submitted to the central Interpol office, reported the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s press-secretary.

While the prosecutor general was requesting an international search for the two Armenian soldiers from Interpol, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence discharged 14 Azerbaijani servicemen who had participated in the capture of Gurgen Alaverdyan.

The platoon and company commanders were also demoted.

This was first reported on social media, and then confirmed by the ministry of defence.

]The reason was the use of smartphones on the battlefield, stated the ministry in a press-release:

]”A number of soldiers have sent photos and videos with the prisoner to their relatives, which then ended up on social media”.

Military observer Asaf Guliev said in an interview with JAMnews: 

“For some years now Azerbaijan has been trying to get two of its citizens, Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev, released from captivity in Nagorno-Karabakh. These two normal people have been declared saboteurs and sentenced to long-term imprisonment.

As such, the legal process and declaration of an international search for the Armenian servicemen is necessary for Azerbaijan to set a legal precedent, but it will hardly lead to their arrest.

But this kind of punishment for Gurgen Alaverdyan, the serviceman who was taken into captivity, it not the right thing to do. Yes, they broke the rules and should be punished. But they ministry should have told journalists and bloggers about it early. That way they could have avoided widespread discussion and negativity among the public.

Military expert Karen Hovhannisyan said in an interview with JAMnews:

“This is all like the Turkish model. The Turks first charged the Kurds with trying to sabotage them, and then they started ‘retaliatory military actions’.

Armenia has said from the beginning that the serviceman got lost. There was no sabotage and no attack.

It’s likely that Interpol won’t even look at Azerbaijan’s request, since the Armenians have ground enough to say that these servicemen are not members of a saboteur group”.



Armenia Parliament Speaker receives Catholicos of All Armenians

Ani Kharatian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 8 2020

15:47, 08.09.2020